Igor Zugic (born 23 December 1981) is a Canadian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player who holds the

FIDE title FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...

. He was the 2006 Canadian Champion and is an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

by profession. Zugic was born in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

and emigrated to Canada with his family at age 12, settling in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. His first important Canadian chess results came in 1996 when he won both the Canadian Championship for Grade 9 and the Canadian Under 18 Championship. He was of National Master strength by this time, at age 15. He represented Canada at the

World Youth Chess Championship The World Youth Chess Championship is a FIDE-organized worldwide chess competition for boys and girls under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18. Twelve world champions are crowned every year. Since 2015, the event has been split into "World Cade ...

s, Boys' Under 18 Group, in both 1996 and 1998.

International Master

Zugic won the Canadian Grade 12 Championship in 1999 and earned his

title in 2000, and made a Grandmaster norm at

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the same year. He studied computer engineering at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

, graduating in 2004, and represented the school in the

Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship is the foremost intercollegiate team chess championship in the Americas. Hosted in part by the United States Chess Federation, the Pan-Am Intercollegiate is open to any team comprising four p ...

. Zugic tied for third place in the Closed Zonal

Canadian Chess Championship This is the list of all the winners of the Canadian Chess Championship, often referred to as the Canadian Closed Championship to distinguish it from the annual Canadian Open tournament. The winner of the Canadian Closed advances to the World Cup st ...

at Toronto 2004, with 6.5/9, behind

Pascal Charbonneau Pascal Charbonneau (born May 6, 1983, in Montreal) is a Canadian Grandmaster of chess, and a financial analyst. He has won two Closed Canadian Chess Championships, in 2002 and 2004, and has represented Canada in five Chess Olympiads: 2000, 200 ...

and

Eric Lawson Eric Lawson (born February 12, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who is perhaps best known for his fight stint with now-defunct promotion Strikeforce. A professional mixed martial arts since 2004, Lawson holds a record of 9–5. Mixe ...

. Zugic won the

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

International 2005, making his second Grandmaster norm. He represented Canada at the American Continental Chess Championship at

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2005.

Olympian and Canadian Champion

Zugic was first selected for the Canadian

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

team in 2000, and has made the team twice more since. Here are his results playing in this championship: * 2000:

34th Chess Olympiad The 34th Chess Olympiad ( tr, 34. Satranç Olimpiyatı), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to all players. and women's tou ...

Istanbul, board 3, 5/9, +3 =4 -2; * 2004:

36th Chess Olympiad The 36th Chess Olympiad ( es, La 36a Olimpíada de ajedrez, link=no; ca, La 36a Olimpíada d'escacs), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', ...

Calvià, board 4, 4/10, +2 =4 -4; * 2006:

37th Chess Olympiad The 37th Chess Olympiad ( it, Le 37° Olimpiadi degli scacchi), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as w ...

Turin, board 3, 5/9, +3 =4 -2; * 2008:

38th Chess Olympiad The 38th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 38. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place from 12 to 25 November 2008 in Dresden ...

Dresden board 3, 7/10, +5=4-1. * His combined results for Canada are: +13 =16 -9, for 55 per cent. Zugic won the Closed Zonal

at Toronto 2006 with 7/9, and represented Canada in the 2007

Chess World Cup The FIDE World Cup refers to three different events over the years. Since 2000, it has been a major chess event organized by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. Since 2005, it has been a 128-player single-elimination chess tournament, formi ...

, losing his first-round match to Michael Adams by 0.5-1.5. His Canadian rating as of May 2007 was 2553, and his International FIDE rating is 2481. The site chessgames.com has 106 of his games, the site chessbase.com has 342 of his games, and the site mychess.com has 320 of his games; many of these games would be duplicated between sites.

Notable chess games

Georgi Kacheishvili vs Igor Zugic, Istanbul Olympiad 2000, King's Indian Attack (A07), 0-1
Very solid positional performance against a strong Grandmaster.
Igor Zugic vs Irina Krush, New York Smartchess.com International 2001, English Opening (A21), 1-0
Convincing win over one of the world's top women players.
Igor Zugic vs Ljubomir Ftacnik, Montreal International 2002, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D85), 1-0
It's the youngster against the veteran, and this time the young gun triumphs.
Igor Zugic vs Dmitry Tyomkin, Canadian Zonal Championship, Toronto 2004, English Opening (A15), 1-0
Theory gets left behind early as both sides play to win in this sharp encounter.
Hrvoje Stevic vs Igor Zugic, Calvia Olympiad 2004, Sicilian Defence, Alapin Variation (B22), 0-1
Another 2500+ player has to topple his King.

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zugic, Igor 1981 births Living people Canadian chess players Canadian people of Serbian descent Chess International Masters Sportspeople from Sarajevo Sportspeople from Toronto Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina University of Toronto alumni